The different outlet cover plate sizes

Did you know?

Did you know that wall plate covers come in three different sizes? Well, they do. Three to be exact.

You have your most common size 2 3/4″ x 4 1/2″

The preferred size plate is nominally 3.13″ x 4.88″

The oversized plate is nominally 3.5″ x 5.25″

Now chances are you can just use the regular size plate without any issues. However, when you have a larger cap than normal around the box to where the plate won’t be able to cover the edges of the sheetrock up you’ll want to use these larger plates. It’s a real-life saver. Otherwise, you’ll be patching, sanding, and painting and hoping it comes out good.

When I shop for plates I always go for the medium (preferred) size ones.  No matter what type of plate, either for a rocker switch, outlet, single or four switch plates they do come in a few different sizes.

Lots of times you’ll find yourself looking for the next larger size when you remove a plate to paint and find that you pulled some of the paper from the sheetrock off with the plate. So of course, it would be way easier to just replace the plate with a larger one.

A good tip would be to use a utility knife and cut the paint away before removing the plates. Just makes things easier.